An absence of good judgment

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz last week announced a deal with state Rep. Stephen Smith, D-Everett, under which the politician — accused of voting fraud — will plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges, resign his seat effective Jan. 1, and agree not to seek public office for five years.

Further penalties could be determined by a federal court, including a maximum sentence of one year in prison on each count of fraud, and a possible fine of $100,000.

We urge the court to impose the maximum available penalties, and help ensure Mr. Smith never runs for so much as fence viewer.

What Mr. Smith did was not the youthful indiscretion of an inexperienced or overzealous political newcomer. It was a deeply cynical assault upon the very foundation of democracy, carried out by a member of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Election Laws, no less. And it was stupid and clumsy — the fraud was uncovered after a startling 20 percent rate of absentee ballots was discovered in the city of Everett’s returns.

Thankfully, voter fraud is rare, and prosecutions of it rarer still. This is such a case. Imposing severe penalties is the only way to send a message that such misdoing is intolerable.